Earlier this week, Jim Best was asked how ready his wrestlers are for the “Second Season.”
His response?
“I feel they are 100 percent ready,” said the Hornets second year head coach. “As far as my preparation plan for them to be at peak performance this weekend, everything has gone to script and that’s because they’ve bought into the plan.
“Physically, they are absolutely 100 percent ready to compete at top levels this weekend. Now mentally? That’s on them. Are they mentally ready to go? That tale will be told on Friday and Saturday.”
A total of 13 Hornets will be competing in the 74th Annual PIAA District XI Class 3A Wrestling Championships at Liberty High School.
Action gets underway at 5 p.m. on Friday with the pigtail round, quarterfinals and first round consolations. The tournament will resume at 9 a.m. on Saturday with the consolation round followed by the semifinals at 10:15 a.m. The consolation finals will start at 3 p.m. with the finals scheduled for 4:45 p.m.
The top five in each weight class will then move on to the Northeast Regional Tournament, which will be held back at Liberty on February 28 and March 1.
Emilio Albanese is Emmaus’ highest seeded wrestler earning the No. 1 overall seed at 114.
The sophomore is 28-5 on the season and is motivated to win his first district title after finishing runner-up a year ago.
“He felt and we felt as a coaching staff that he should have been the district champ last year,” said Best, referring to Albanese 4-3 loss to Easton’s Nick Salamone in the finals. “He’s very motivated to win the tournament and I think anything less than a championship for Emilio is going to be a disappointment for him.”
Despite the runner-up finish, Albanese still enjoyed an outstanding freshman campaign, placing third at regionals and fourth at the PIAA State Tournament. He finished last season with a 39-6 record. The 39 wins ties former Hornet Taylor Brown for second most in program history.
Albanese top challengers include Wilmont Kai, the No. 2 seed from Whitehall, Aiden Vanicky, No. 3 seed from NDGP, and Ryan Marano, the No. 4 seed from Northampton.
At 172, junior Xayden Sallit earned the No. 2 seed with a 28-8 record.
“Xayden has wrestled consistently throughout the year and he’s set up with that seed to get himself to the finals, but he’s going to have to wrestle well to get there,” said Best. “If he wrestles soundly in the first, second and semifinals, he could find himself in the district finals.”
Sallit finished fifth at districts a year ago and sixth at regionals.
Shane McFillin of Becahi is the No. 1 seed. Justin Cosover of Easton is third and Elijah Simak of Nazareth is fourth.
In his final season, perhaps no Emmaus wrestler is as motivated as Jesse Scott.
The 160-pound senior just missed out on qualifying for states placing sixth at regionals. He’s also just two wins away from reaching a personal milestone, 100 wins for his career.
Scott is the No. 3 seed with a 25-11 overall record.
“When he won his last match at regionals last year but didn’t qualify for the state tournament, it’s been a goal for him to get back to the regional tournament and this time get himself qualified for the state tournament and get on that podium in Hershey,” said Best of Scott who has a career mark of 98-45.
“His energy levels at practice the last two weeks have been off the charts, and he realizes the moment, and this is my opportunity, my chance so I’m going to make the most out of it.”
Scott’s toughest challengers include top-seeded Charlie Scanlan of Becahi, Keegan Ramsay, the No. 2 seed from NDGP, and third-seeded Quentin Hammerstone of Easton.
Another Hornet who has made the most out of his season is junior Jackson Max, who’s seeded fifth at 107.
“It’s a deep weight class and Jackson knows that, and we all know that” said Best. “The thing about Jackson, he doesn’t care where he’s seeded. He’s going to compete. I would say he is the kid that those favorites in that weight class don’t want in their bracket. He’s the problem child. He has some different techniques that he uses and he’s big for that weight class. He’s going to problematic for some of those other wrestlers.”
Brayden Wenrich of Northampton is the top seed, followed by Nico Emili, No. 2 seed from Becahi, Braden Todora, the No.3 seed from Parkland and fourth-seeded Cael Muller of NDGP.
Best also thinks that Max’s teammate, Teagan Caciolo, could also create havoc at 121.
As the No. 6 seed with a 23-9 mark, the sophomore returns to action suffering a back injury in late January.
“He’s 100 percent healthy now and like Jackson, he’s the problem in that bracket,” said Best. “All of those guys that are seeded ahead of him, he’s already beaten at some point in his wrestling career and that’s going to sticks in their minds at some point in time.
“Teagan just has to make sure he’s mentally ready, takes care of business and that he’s ready to compete each and every time.”
Easton’s Nick Salamone is the No. 1 seed followed by Reef Dillard of Becahi No. 2, Remy Trach of Nazareth No. 3 and Kade Pascoe of Whitehall No. 4.
Three other Hornets – sophomore Levi Max (17-12 @ 127), senior Chance Henry (20-10 @ 145) and freshman Xyler Sallit (19-12 @ 139) are also capable of making noise in their respective weight classes.
“All three absolutely do,” said Best. “At some point in the tournament they are going to have put together two near perfect matches to get into that regional tournament, so we’ll see.”
The other Emmaus wrestlers competing include sophomore Tommy Fallstich (133), junior Logan Armstrong (152), senior Massimo Tranguch (189), senior Ashir Choudhry (215) and junior Logan Roth (285).
To follow all the action, follow @Emmaussports.com on ‘X’ for updates on the tournament.
Emmaus lineup (1st Round matchups):
107 – Jackson Max (29-5) vs Cooper Kresge (Jim Thorpe, 12-10)
114 – Emilio Albanese (28-5) vs winner Ovidius Cusu (Freedom, 6-13) or Chase Kruk (Parkland, 4-6)
121 – Teagan Caciolo (23-9) vs Chris Jacobacci (Jim Thorpe, 24-11)
127 – Levi Max (17-12) vs Cole Smith (Bangor, 22-21)
133 – Tommy Fallstich (10-16) vs Carter Smith (Bangor, 26-12)
139 – Xyler Sallit (19-12) vs Chris Recinos (Dieruff, 27-5)
145 – Chance Henry (20-10) vs Christian Perez (Allen, 2-11)
152 – Logan Armstrong (9-6) vs Noah Noguera (PMW, 16-6)
160 – Jesse Scott (25-11) vs winner Chase Brown (Nazareth, 5-12) or Michael Correll (Allen, 14-12)
172 – Xayden Sallit (28-8) vs winner Adis Vukel (PV, 15-15) or Cole Retos (Freedom, 9-10)
189 – Massimo Tranguch (9-9) vs James Deluise (BC, 10-5)
215 – Ashir Choudhry (6-16) vs Maddox Rittenhouse (Park, 5-13)
285 – Logan Roth (10-13) vs Gianni Goodrich (Bangor, 19-19)
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